These industries have the smallest gender pay gaps

By Daniel DeMay, SeattlePI
| on
April 8, 2018

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A new study finds that the pay gap between women and men continues to persist, changing little from two years ago, and while pay for similar jobs in similar markets has improved, women's access to high paying

A new study finds that the pay gap between women and men continues to persist, changing little from two years ago, and while pay for similar jobs in similar markets has improved, women's access to high paying jobs hasn't.

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14. Arts, entertainment and recreation

Uncontrolled gender pay gap: $0.881 (to $1 earned by men)

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13. Education

Uncontrolled gender pay gap: $0.878 (to $1 earned by men)

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12. Accommodation and food services

Uncontrolled gender pay gap: $0.876 (to $1 earned by men)

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11. Construction

Uncontrolled gender pay gap: $0.857 (to $1 earned by men)

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10. Nonprofits

Uncontrolled gender pay gap: $0.853 (to $1 earned by men)

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9. Tech

Uncontrolled gender pay gap: $0.847 (to $1 earned by men)

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7. Engineering and science

Uncontrolled gender pay gap: $0.886 (to $1 earned by men)

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6. Retail and customer service

Uncontrolled gender pay gap: $0.83 (to $1 earned by men)

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4. Healthcare

Uncontrolled gender pay gap: $0.812 (to $1 earned by men)

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2. Agencies and consultancies

Uncontrolled gender pay gap: $0.79 (to $1 earned by men)

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1. Finance and insurance

Uncontrolled gender pay gap: $0.731 (to $1 earned by men)

Women continue to face a dismal reality when it comes to their careers: They don't earn as much as men.

A new study from PayScale found that while the gap has closed ever so slightly in the last two years, pay for women lags heavily, and their opportunities in top-paying jobs continue to be limited.

When comparing the salaries of all working women to all working men (the uncontrolled gender pay gap), women in 2018 can expect to earn $0.78 for every $1 earned by men, the study found.

The controlled pay gap, which compares similar women in similar jobs to similar men in similar jobs, is a much smaller gap -- about 2 percent -- but the figure doesn't account for many women unable to reach better paying jobs because of bias, sexism and other factors.

"The uncontrolled gap really matters because you're seeing that women are underrepresented in the best paying jobs in the country," said Lydia Frank, vice president of content strategy for PayScale.

PayScale's study was based on online surveys completed by more than 2 million people between January 2016 and February 2018. Participants provided details about their industry, occupation, location, as well as demographics including age and gender.

Women and men have fairly equal opportunities as individual contributors -- or in lower-tiered jobs -- but moving up the ladder to manager, director or executive, women have far fewer roles, the study found.

By the middle of their careers (ages 30 to 44), men are 70 percent more likely to be in vice president or C-suite roles than women. By the time they reach their late careers (45 and up), men are 142 percent more likely to have those high-paying roles.

"I think when you look at corporate America, we like to imagine that women were invited into the room many decades ago," said Amy Nelson, founder and CEO of The Riveter, a woman-oriented co-working space and incubator. "But I would argue women still haven't been given a seat at the table. I think there is still a lot of bias."

At least one factor playing into this are career disruptions, or periods of unemployment. PayScale found that, for men or women, even a 3-month stint of unemployment can lead to a 4 percent pay cut when they return to work. But women are more likely to take time away from a career than men and those breaks are usually longer, so they face a bigger penalty.

Having children is a major factor that can trigger women to step away from a career, though not necessarily because they want to, Frank said.

And parental leave in the U.S. skews toward far more time for women -- if the employer offers it --something that can force a family's decision.

"If you're making policies where there is not more equity with the time off, you're essentially making choices for the family," Frank said. "You're telling women that they are expected to stay home and care for children and you're telling men that they're not expected to stay home and care for children."

Many policies in the U.S. lag behind other developed nations when it comes to equity for women. Washington state and Seattle especially have taken steps toward more equity with policies like the state's family leave act that allows up to 12 weeks of protected leave after a child birth or for a family medical emergency. Seattle in 2015 also enacted a policy of paid parental leave for all city employees, allowing a month of leave for the birth or adoption of a child (for either the father or the mother or both).

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But those policies are only part of a system that is forged upon a way of life that largely doesn't exist anymore, said Stacey Jones, a senior lecturer in economics at Seattle University.

"We still have systems designed around the idea of a single bread earner family, or at least the idea of a family where one person's career is secondary," Jones said. "It's not so much women versus men, it's mothers versus everyone else."

The tax system, social security and many parental leave programs are predicated on the assumption of a traditional, patriarchal family structure where the man works and the woman stays home to take care of the child, she said. Those are the policies that need to change to help allow women to advance to pay equity with men.

While it's good for companies to take steps to even out the playing field, only policy (and federal policy, at that) can usher in the kind of societal change needed, Jones said.

Changing the culture also requires that men get into the conversation, Frank said.

"When men aren't part of the conversation, very little is going to change," she said.

The figures presented in PayScale's study aren't new, and the fact that women continue to stare down at figures that show they earn little more than three-quarters of what men earn can wear down the impact, Nelson said.

"It is very abnormal that women do not earn the same amount as men," Nelson said. "These numbers aren't normal, they're not OK."